TNT NV, the Dutch post and express mail company, reported a sharp fall in first-quarter profit on Monday, mostly due to the sale of operations in the same period a year ago.
The company said net profit fell 57 percent to euro179 million (US$280 million) from euro427 million, while sales rose 1.8 percent to euro2.72 billion (US$4.25 billion).
Last year, TNT booked a euro195 million profit after selling its freight management division to Geodis SA of France.
TNT said it also suffered from having significantly fewer working days in the first quarter than a year ago, in part because of an early Easter, which came in March this year.
TNT repeated its financial targets for 2008 of double-digit sales growth in its low-margin express division and slight growth in its high-margin mail division.
The company said it is in negotiations with labor unions that have begun striking over a loan increase.